Panda Express — Restaurant in California

Those of you that sometimes read my reviews know I don't like giving a bad review and do my best to find good things to say. Panda Express only got 3 stars because the person I ate with enjoyed her dinner.

From picking up our order to eating it I was disappointed. For those that like Panda and it's their go to place, sorry. Myself, I like my little Chinese deli.

Let's start with picking up your order. Once you know what's up it's ok. If it's your first time there your order will be on the shelves that are under the food delivery services sign. It's not very clear, no one makes sure you're getting the right order. If you have a certain bent way of thinking you might "accidentally" walk off with an extra bag. Don't do that, karma is watching. Be cool.

I ordered the 3 item dinner with half and half rice and noodles. I had orange chicken, Chinese chicken and teriyaki chicken. OK, first the noodles. Noodles are supposed to be at least pliable. Mine were on the edge of crunchy. Couldn't eat them, and I like noodles a lot. The rice was ok. Just ok. The orange chicken actually wasn't bad. I love teriyaki chicken, and theirs was inedible. It had the feel of something injected, that weird feel I don't like much. It didn't really have any flavor. If I hadn't read that it's teriyaki chicken I wouldn't have known what it was supposed to be. The other chicken was cooked to the edge of burned which made it very, very crunchy. Somehow I don't think it was what they were after. I divvied the noodles and alleged teriyaki chicken up between the dogs, and they were thrilled. The other chicken I tossed.

The staff was young and it was busy, so maybe they were feeling a little overwhelmed. The guy I asked where I picked up the meal certainly seemed harried. I did mention that their sign wasn't very clear and he actually looked and said he saw my point. He could see the other people looking a little confused since they weren't Door Dash or UberEats drivers either.

I noticed that 5 local Panda locations have recently closed. Just an observation. I've eaten at Panda a few times and it wasn't bad, so I went expecting a decent if not outstanding dinner. I was bummed. I also never understood the hype about PF Chang's or Krispy Kreme donuts either, so take that into consideration. Maybe I'm not a chain kind of guy when it comes to some things, and prefer my little...

Have gone in to this location at least a half dozen times, so we've given it more than enough chances Service is generally below par Disorganized lines and pick-up areas always cause extra confusion Prices have increased, yet food is still mediocre and on some occasions the chicken has been mostly fat & fried coating

And 4. And this one is why my family and I will never return- After standing in a long line, we ordered, 2 adult meals and 2 kid meals and proceeded down the queue to the checkout. While waiting our turn to pay, the staff proceeded to take one guest after another from behind us to help instead. When they motioned for the 3rd woman to go around us without ever speaking to us, I spoke up and asked why. I did not get an answer, but instead watched the caucasian customer and cashier share a smirk at each other and then glare down at the 2 very dark skinned foster kids I had with me It then occurred to me what was happening. To avoid any more uncomfort for our family, I smiled at the kids in hopes of getting their attention on me and off of the staff & customer that were staring down at them, and disheartenedly...

I’ve been to this location many times and this might be the last time I’ll be coming here. During my last visit the restaurant was highly disorganized. We had to wait outside because of covid and there are no signs outside the store on where to stand for online orders and where to go for in-store orders. People that ordered online were standing outside for 30+ minutes, not knowing if their food was being prepared and not knowing if their order was even confirmed. One person was so frustrated he left after waiting so long because he couldn’t even talk to anyone about his order. The line to order in-store was moving at a snail's pace. There were about 4 people ahead of me when I arrived and ended up waiting much longer than expected to order.

The food I got did not taste good. The orange chicken was soggy, the rice was dry, and the chow main especially tasted old. The portion sizes were also small. This place never has good orange chicken for some reason which is a shame since that’s what panda express is known for. Save your money and go...